Sunday, March 15, 2009

Bill Graham Presents

The somber sequel to Greensleeves.

In the course of typing the Greensleeves post, Umlaut found out that Bill Graham is buried literally 5 minutes from Casa de Umlaut; I basically drive past him every time I go to Target! For some reason, I thought Graham had been cremated and his ashes spread somewhere like Marin County or Hawaii... or maybe smoked out of a hookah by old Santana roadies.

Anyway, the Music Legend's final resting place was pretty easy to find at the Eternal Home Cemetery in Colma. Although I almost walked into his headstone because I didn't expect it to be right in front of me so quickly after exiting the Prius..





I was surprised that there was nothing music related carved into the headstone; no Steal Your Face... no song lyrics... nothing to commemorate what he did on Earth in the name of music. It also tripped me out that the Music Legend's grave is within yards of busy El Camino Real and just down the street from Target and Best Buy... with the constant sound of traffic acting as the soundtrack to his eternal slumber... although I suppose the traffic could also sound like the roar of a concert crowd if you close your eyes.. or are stoned enough.. I suppose.

Bill Graham with The Who - Oakland Stadium 1976

Bill Graham with Ronnie Van Zant - Oakland Stadium 1977

Bill Graham with Metallica - Oakland Stadium 1991

Yes, Umlaut likes cemeteries. Click HERE for some of his other visits with souls from the past..